I'm in trouble.

Heaven help me when this baby girl gets old enough to put mascara on those beautiful, ridiculously long, eye lashes.

I think I might need to lock her in a tall tower like Rapunzel until after her teenage years are over.

And so it begins...

My baby boy is growing up.

I took this picture on Monday, which marks the first morning that there were absolutely NO TEARS before preschool. YAY! There were still tears once it was time for me to leave him at preschool, but it's still a work in progress and I'm really impressed with just how far he's come in a few short weeks.

I bought a set of kids multi-colored plastic plates, bowls and cups at Ikea a long time ago.  Owen has never cared which color dish that he uses.

The other day, I got out the pink plate, which was next on the stack in the cabinet, for Owen's snack.

He immediately told me, "I don't want THAT plate!!! It's PINK!! I don't LIKE pink!!"

My boy is growing up.

And so it begins.

Bass Lake and a Birthday

In August we went on a much needed, very fun, week-long vacation to Bass Lake, thanks to Rick's parents.  Rick and his family used to vacation here often growing up but they hadn't been back in quite a few years. We had a blast!! We rode a jet ski, slid down a rock waterfall, went tubing behind a boat, hiked Yosemite, and swam at the lake.

 Arriving in Bass Lake after our long car ride "to the forest," as Owen referred to it.

 

Hiking on the trail to see the giant sequoias. It was very HOT that day and there were so many bees it was ridiculous! (Bees and I don't have a good relationship.) BUT it was really fun and we saw woodpeckers, squirrels, and even a deer!

Lexie lounging on the shore in comfort.

Owen swimming "all by himself!" When we first arrived to the lake, he was not confident in the water at all because he's only been swimming a handful of times. (That is SO SAD to me because that is the complete opposite of how I grew up!) Anyway, by the end of the week, he swam all by himself with his life jacket and now he loves to swim!

While we were there, Owen turned 4!!! We celebrated with an Avengers/Batman theme party!

The birthday boy, complete with bedhead

Rylan and Owen admiring the cake. Funny story about the cake.... we went to Vons to get a Batman cake, as per request, but the cake decorator wasn't scheduled to come into the store until the day after his birthday and they were all out of Batman cake decorating kits. The only Batman ANYTHING we could find was a light up action figure at CVS and after getting a price check learned it was $20!!! We did not want to spend an extra $20 just for the cake topper for his 4th birthday. Luckily, the store manager was really nice and without us even saying anything offered to mark it down 50% because it was another store's leftover shipment. Woohoo!!!

The fancy light-up Batman cake and a happy boy.

 

During the trip, Rick's toenail got caught on something and he didn't want it to split any further, so he used some pretty pink nailpolish to glue it back together. Chloe and Owen thought it was pretty funny.

 Owen and Lexie soaking up the sun.

 

The end of a long day at the lake. The kids would fall asleep within a minute of getting in the car to go from the dock to the house.

 

Our dock/beach area where we went almost every day. So pretty!

 

We had a great time and Owen still talks about going to the forest and the lakehouse. We can't wait to go back!! THANK YOU Loretta and Henry!!!!

The Little Princess

Lexie has been taking off her headbands lately. It makes me sad. I'm hoping it's only because it's been so hot and that when the weather cools off she'll let me put them on her again. Luckily she has just enough hair for a small clip.

 

 

It will do for now.

 

 

Lexie turned 10 months on Friday. She has some new tricks up her sleeve.

• Waves to everyone and everything, but most of the time the people she's waving at aren't looking at her. I think she prefers it that way.  It is so precious.
• Stands all by herself for about 20-30 seconds at a time. Then she slowly lowers herself to sit down.
• Uses push toys to walk by herself. It really won't be long before she's walking on her own.
• Makes clicking noises with her tongue. She gets super excited if you do it back to her.
• Is a maniac in the bathtub. She does a very high pitched, excited, and LOUD scream because she loves the bath so much. She also fills up the cup we use for washing hair and tries to drink it every minute that she's in there. I always take it away from her, dump out the water, and hand it back to her. Then, with a big grin on her face, she fills it back up with water and brings it up to her mouth. "Clever girl." (hahaha I just quoted Jurassic Park. Does anyone besides my siblings know which part I'm referring to?)
• She insists on feeding herself whenever possible. She will only eat baby food out of the pouch because she feels like she can do it all by herself. Otherwise, she prefers finger foods. She also always holds her own bottle.
• Her fun and adventureous personality is really starting to come through. She is such a joy to have in our home!

 

 
 

1st Day of Preschool

Owen had his first day of preschool today! I was really nervous about how he'd do being all by himself for most of the day in a new place with new people, but he did great!  When he woke up this morning, he was all smiles and was excited to go to school. I got a few pictures of him before we left.

"Smile nice."

"No, really smile nice."

 

"That's better. Okay, now make a silly face."

 "Good. Okay, now show me your lunchbox."

 

 "Okay, put it down so I can see your face."

"But still show me your lunchbox."

"All right, it's time to go to school!"

 

At school, he was excited to show Daddy the playground.

However, once we got inside, he started getting more and more uncomfortable and the reality of us leaving sank in. He started crying a little bit (but not hysterically, which is a huge improvement from years past) and asked us not to leave. We said our good-byes and left him in the good hands of Miss Barbara.

When we came back to pick him up, he was all smiles again. He had a fabulous time! He played blocks, playdough, and bubbles. He played outside on the playground and practiced writing his name. He sang songs and learned about letters. He is excited to go back on Monday! Yay!

On a side note, I just LOVE his teacher. She was so good with Owen. She made him the line leader today and really helped him feel at ease for his first day. Also, during circle time at the end of the day, she sang the kids N*SYNC's "Bye, Bye, Bye", complete with dance moves. It was awesome. Any preschool teacher who does that gets major points in my book.

We are so proud of you, Owen!! You were very brave today!!